Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault: Research Practices For Protection Orders, Shelby Connett

Student Work

Mission Statement: “To be a source of help, hope, safety, and inspiration to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. We embrace and focus on the story of each individual with deep concern and care in order to understand, facilitate, advocate, and support.”

SASA has been in existence for 40 years serving individuals and families in many important ways. Their current set of service provisions can be found detailed below in an organizational chart.

Habitat For Humanity Omaha: Homeownership Program: Quantitative And Qualitative Report, Rachel Lubischer, Heather Carlson

Student Work

This report includes quantitative results, qualitative results, an overall summary, and recommendations. The Quantitative Introduction includes an demographic analysis of 2018 Quarter 3 applicants to the Homeownership Program. The Quantitative Data pages include an explanation of quantitative methodology, data collection, and analysis procedures. Additionally, a comparison of applicant demographic and outcome data, an overall summary, and research limitations are provided. The Qualitative Data pages include information on the data collection process, coding procedures, and primary themes identified. A concept map of qualitative themes and categories, an overall summary, and research limitations are also provided. The Summary provides an overall summary …

How Does The Fictional Tv Marriage Influence A Young Adult's Own Perceptions About Marriage?, Gina A. Svedsen

Student Work

This study explored the relationship between television influence and the young adult‘s perception of marriage. The participants were 178, college-aged males and females (median age 20) from a large Midwestern university. How much television participants watched and the types of programs they watched were examined. Participants were asked where they got their information about marriage and how they thought marriage was displayed on TV. Two hypotheses were tested -- H1: Female students are more likely than male students to use TV programs for ideas on what marriage is really like; H2: Television has a greater influence over female students than …

Breaking The Criminogenic Code: A Frame Analysis Of Neo-Nazi And Violent Jihadi Propaganda, William Travis Morris

Student Work

This dissertation focuses on neo-Nazi and violent jihadi propaganda and its role in defining social boundaries. Frame analysis was used to gain a deeper understanding of how neo-Nazis and violent jihadis construct propaganda to neutralize objections and promote drift. Specifically, diagnostic and prognostic frames were analyzed for 10 "effective" propagandists and two "ineffective" propagandists in a comparative framework. This research uses a social psychological perspective, paying particular attention to the emotion of shame and advances the "violence as communication" model into "terrorism as criminogenic propaganda." Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze how neo-Nazi and violent jihadi propagandists incorporate …

The Experience Of Counseling The Terminally Ill And The Best Counseling Practices, Helen Jackson Bleicher

Student Work

As people approach the end of their lives, many experience anxiety throughout the dying experience. This research investigated the death experience of terminally ill patients and the best counseling practices among licensed mental health practitioners. The questions developed by the researcher served as the measure, which was developed specifically for this research. The questions were given to a small purposive sample of counselors (N=10) who work in hospice settings, private practice, and oncology clinics. This research found that counselors focus on the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of dying, and observe patients having less death anxiety when they are comfortable with …

The Tipping Point To Terrorism: Involvement In Right-Wing Terrorist Groups In The United States, Anne M. Stacey Reeser

Student Work

This dissertation focuses on right-wing terrorism (RWT) in the United States perpetrated by adherents to the White Supremacist Movement (WSM). In depth case history data were collected using a variety of sources and analyzed on 66 federally indicted WSM terrorists representing 10 different terrorist organizations in the United States from 1980-2002. The primary means of analysis was a qualitative case analysis using narrative data to uncover what influences an individual to become involved in a terrorist group. Specifically, I analyzed the influences of: 1) structural components, 2) family dynamics, and 3) non-familial relationships on the involvement process. Results from this …

Collaborative Success And Community Culture: Cross-Sectoral Partnerships Addressing Homelessness In Omaha And Portland, Patrick T. Mcnamara

Student Work

This dissertation explores the impact of community culture on the success of cross-sectoral collaboratives addressing homelessness in Omaha, Nebraska, and Portland, Oregon. A comparative case study approach is used to build theory about how the environment helps to make conditions conducive or challenging to collaboration between government, business and nonprofit organizations. The concept of community culture is operationalized by including three interrelated factors - social capital, community power, and political history - to assess the two cities. Omaha is a model of a private sector community culture, high in bonding social capital, where central control of decision making and elite …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Sense Of Humor And Purpose In Life, Sandra Batten

Student Work

It was hypothesized that sense o f humor is related to purpose in life. A convenience sample o f 136 undergraduates completed the Modified Purpose in Life test (Chang & Dodder, 1983-84) and the Multidimensional Sense o f Humor Scale (Thorson & Powell, 1993). The overall correlation between the two scales in this sample was .30 ( p < .001). The sub-scales o f the MSHS that related most robustly to purpose in life were Coping ( r = . 3 1 , p < .001) and Attitude Toward Humor and Humorous People ( r = .45, p < .001).

A Test Of The Self-Regulatory Model Of Prejudice Reduction, Sonja Williams

Student Work

Two assumptions derived from Devine and Monteith’s (1993) self-regulatory model of prejudice reduction were tested utilizing a stereotype-activating stimulus believed to be similar to one which is more likely to occur in everyday-life than those used in previous research. Black and white actors making ambiguously hostile statements were evaluated by 92 low and high-prejudiced participants. Rating-scale data provided partial support for the assumption that low-prejudiced participants inhibit stereotype-consistent responses and replace them with personal, more egalitarian beliefs. Specifically, low-prejudiced participants provided significantly more favorable ratings than their high-prejudiced counterparts (p = .030). Reaction-time data provided support for the model’s assumption …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Communication Competence And Interactive Strategies For Coping With Romantic Jealousy, Amy J. Bull

Student Work

This thesis investigated the relationship between communication competence and interactive jealousy coping strategies. Two hypotheses were proposed and tested utilizing the Interactive Reactions to Jealousy Scale and a subscale of Wiemann’s Communication Competence Scale. Results indicated a significant positive relationship exists between the level of communication competence and the use of integrative communication, which is considered a positive and helpful coping strategy. However, no significant relationships were found between the level of communication competence and the use of potentially destructive coping strategies. Discussion and interpretation of results and general future areas for research on jealousy and communication competence are proposed.

Does Protestant Fundamentalism Produce Traditional Views?: The Impact Of Religious Commitment Affiliation On Gender Role Beliefs And Political Ideology, Melissa Myers

Student Work

This research looks at the relationship between religious commitment/affiliation and traditional beliefs. Data from the 1993 General Social Survey is used to test hypotheses linking religious commitment and religious affiliation to traditional gender role beliefs and conservative political views. Findings show statistical significance but weak substantive support for the idea that fundamentalists hold more traditional gender role beliefs and political ideology. Future research linking these attitudes to the actual behaviors of men and women in fundamentalist religions is proposed.

Developmentally Disabled Elderly: Reflections Of The Aging Network Workers' Readiness, Daniel Alan Kash

Student Work

This study looks at the readiness of the aging network workers to work with the developmentally disabled elderly. The developmentally disabled elderly population will grow along with the rest of the aging population. As this occurs, the aging network workers may be called upon to work with the developmentally disabled elderly population. This study surveyed the aging networker workers to determine their attitudes and opinions in serving the developmentally disabled elderly population. Specifically, the survey looked at the attitudes and opinions of the aging network workers of the developmentally disabled elderly population in the following areas: perceptions of the field, …

The Effect Of Social Factors On Skin Color Preference Of Black Preschool Age Children, Charles J. Alexander

Student Work

The primary purpose of this thesis is to determine if different shades of Black skin color have an effect on skin color preference among Black preschool age children. More specifically, it is an investigation of the relation skin color preference has to playmate choice among preschool age Black children and how this relation is affected by age, sex and social setting.

In The World But Not Of The World: A Church's Relation To Its Environment, James Earl Floyd

Student Work

Research in general and inductive research in particular often begins from an unfocused curiosity. From this perplexity, emerges the problem of research, the collecting of relevant data, and the drawing of theoretical inferences from said data. The current research enterprise includes these major problems but is, in many respects, different. That is to say, the execution is different from that which is found in "traditional patterns of investigation."

The Wedding Complex: The Social And Occupational Organization Of A Rite Of Passage, Trudy Knicely Henson

Student Work

The wedding as a rite of passage plays an important part in contemporary American society. The planning, staging, and recording phases of a formal wedding directly involve a number of people. The research for this thesis focuses on four of the occupational groups— bridal consultants, formal wear consultants, florists, and photographers— normally involved in the three phases of a formal wedding. Utilizing participant observation and interview techniques I gathered data relating to the duties, training, and regulation of each occupational group as well as the attitudes of representative members of each group toward their work, other members of their own …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Religious Belief Patterns And Measures Of Social Activism, Janet Baumbert

Student Work

The radical changes in American theology, in religious attitudes and mode of religious expression, and in the nature of the relationship between religious commitment and particular social issues have shaped the present decade in such a way that the thrust of religious belief is being seriously questioned. Among sociologists involved in the study of religion this is a pervading topic (Berger, 1970; Bouma, 1970; Demarath, 1969; Glock, et al. 1967; Hadden, 1969; Stark & Glock, 1970; Tinger, 1969).

An Experimental Examination Of Racial Distance Attitude Change In Young Delinquent Girls, Jane Anne Beem

Student Work

This research project was designed and expedited as the result of several long standing interests and concerns. These interests, theoretical in nature, focus upon: (a) the individual consequences of positive and/or negative interracial attitudes, and (b) the social consequences of existing interracial Interaction patterns manifested throughout the United States, particularly within the past two decades. The concerns, pragmatic in nature, are with "social reform."

Forced Resettlement And Attitude Change: A Study Of Cognitive Dissonance, Vincent Joel Webb

Student Work

The United States during the 20th century has been characterized by an ever increasing amount of Federal responsibility and intervention in effecting change in the lives of the local citizenery. This Federal intervention and responsibility takes many varied forms; it is the aim of this research to deal with only one of these forms - the Civil Works Program of the United States Army Corps of Engineers as it relates to water resources development.

Middle And Working-Class Fathers' Occupational Expectations And Aspirations For Their Daughters, William H. Bieck

Student Work

Sociological research in the areas of occupational preference and mobility, together with related work in the sociology of education has been concerned almost entirely with males. An all but exclusive preoccupation with the male worker is somewhat surprising considering the fact that census data reveal, an increasing proportion of women in paid employment during the last sixty years.¹ An examination of labor statistics by Bossi,² disclosed that between 1950 and I960, women accounted for 65 per cent of the increase in the labor force. By 1965, according to Davis³, approximately one paid worker in three was …

A Sociological Consideration Of Pretense, John F. Else

Student Work

Few, if any, persons pass through a day without observing and engaging in some form of pretense. Pretense is a basic aspect of interpersonal relations. In an office or factory the supervisor tells the worker to ’’look busy" even when he does not have work to do. The salesman tries to make the customer feel as if the item being presented is the best buy ever placed on the market. Two people meet and exchange “PIeased to meet you!" when neither actually cares at all about the presence of the other; in fact, each may have negative feelings about meeting …

Socialization To The Parental Role: A Study Of Reactive Norms, Don Stanley Ecklund

Student Work

The interplay of social theory and social research is the most important attribute of the present day scientific study of human behavior. On the one hand, the scientist as theorist is interested in generalizations, and on the other hand, as a researcher he is interested in testing his hypothesis so that he is assured that what he reports is empirically valid. The effective social scientist does not aim to be strictly a theorist or an empiricist, but seeks to meaningfully combine both theory and research in a way that enhances scientific knowledge. In the following pages of this thesis, such …

Religious Preference And Worldly Success: A Comparison Of Protestants And Catholics, James W. Crowley

Student Work

The problem, of theory construction toward a sociological understanding of the religious-economic relationship has relied to a great extent upon the work of a German social scientist, Max Weber.¹ Historical observations made by Weber, which described a meaningful relationship between Protestantism and modern industrial capitalism,² stimulated scholars from a number of fields to continue investigation of this relationship. The Weberian thesis advanced the position that religious and economic phenomena within a society were mutually interdependent. More specifically, Weber was concerned with the 'economic ethics of a religion'³ in relation to the economic institution. This relationship was considered …

An Investigation Of The Attitudes Held By A Randomly Selected Group Of Members Toward Their Young Women's Christian Association A Socio-Psychological Analysis, Robert Lee Geisel

Student Work

Curing the last few years the study of voluntary membership in clubs and other social organisations has become a matter of increased importance in the area of social research. Sociological literature contains several significant studies which have focused attention on this particular area of human behavior. Notwithstanding this development, an attempt will be made in this research project to demonstrate that there is still a definite lack of information with respect to several,important aspects of voluntary membership, it is hoped that the findings of this study will be fruitful in supplying some date deemed necessary to increase our understanding of …

Professional Performance Of Y.M.C.A. Senior Secretaries, Related To Factors Of Their Intelligence, Personal Values, And Interests, Cecil Fayette Mcgee

Student Work

The problem of selecting social service executives by government organizations and social service agencies has long been an important one. Other organizations directing the efforts of people need to know what qualities characterize successful social service executives. Social service executives administer and supervise many activities which involve the time and effort of other people. They should, therefore, be carefully selected so that the objectives of their employing organizations may be effectively and economically achieved.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether any relationship exists between performance ratings of Young Men’s Christian Association Senior Secretaries and their intelligence, personal …

A Study Of Religious Drama As A Resource Of The Church, Illustrated By An Original Biblical Drama, Marien E. Griffith

Student Work

The main purpose of this study is to determine the place of religious drama in the church. Data of information were secured from personal letters and interviews with pastors and lay-people in Omaha, Nebraska; Council Bluffs, Sioux City and Des Moines, Iowa; St. Louis, Missouri; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; Idaho Falls, Iowa; and Monrovia, California. A questionnaire was used as a guiding basis for the interviews. The case method and survey method were used. An original Biblical drama is presented to illustrate what the possibilities are in this field of activity.

Drama is one of the most interesting of …